Latch and lock



R. S. WAGNER ETAI- LATCH AND LOCK April 18, 1950 Filed Oct. 4; 1946 VBY 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TORS April 18, 1950 R. s. WAGNER ETAL v2,504,364

LATCH AND LOCK Filed Oct. 4, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Pa'tentecl pr. "18, 195,0

UNITED STATE-s PATENT oFFlcE Wis.,'assignors" to E. R. Wagner Manufacturing Ccuripany,l Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application october' 4, 194s, siai No. io1,2o4

S'Claiins.

. 1 This invention relates to improvement in a latch, which may be combined with a locking bar for use on cases, boxes or any other containers requiring the latching and locking together of two parts, such as a cover or top part anda base or body part.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a latch and lock having a ininfmized number of parts and in which the various parts severally perform a plurality of functions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch and lock in which the several elements are positioned and retained inv operative relation merely by assembly thereof with luggage or cases and without requiring' other assembly operations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a latch and lock structure in which the latch bolt is rotatably seated in a base plate and is retained in its seated position by assembly'thee= with of a housing only.

A further object of the invention is" to provide alatch and lock in which a base member sup'- ports and positions a lockingbar and co-acts with a bolt in guiding the barfor movement intoand out of engagement with the bolt.

A further object ofthe invention is toprovide a latch and lock structure which may be e'c'fonomically and quickly made and may be readily applied to luggage or other containers, which will be effective and reliableV in operation arid which will be attractive in appearance.

Objects and advantages other than those s't forth above, will be apparent from the following description when readv in connection with' the accompanying drawings in which,Y y

Fig. 1 is an outside top plan View of the present structure applied to a fragmentof a case or-boi and in which the bolt is shown in both the latched and unlatched position, in dotted line.

l Fig. 2 is an end elevation of thel structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the latch and lock with the housing removed therefrom.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View taken on the plane of line IV-'IV` of Fig; 1, and on a slightly enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation looking at the left hand end of the Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the base plate, with the locking bar in place.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation looking at the` right hand end of Fig. 6.

Fig. 3` isa side elevation of FigzfG.

Fig. 9 is a bottom View of the latch bolt and,

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the latch bolt.

v Generally, the present latch and lock includes a base plate, having a substantially circular recess or seat formed therein, with lugs extending fil the body 0f the plate Within and into" the s'at recess. The l'atch bolt has a substantially circular portieri fitting securely in the seat and is' formed with al hooked' nose extending beyond the base for engagement with a keeper casing or plate. The base is formed with a pair of surfaces' positively positioning the bolt in its: end position for engagement and for disengagement of the bolt With the keeper and the bolt is rtaine'd in such position by a spring mounted o n thejbas" arid e'ngageabie with notches.l in the bcn in the two end positions thereof. The latchblt has peripheral flanges defining a notch receiving one* end of a locking bar supported and positioned by the base lugs, neof such lugs servingv asjan abutment by which the.l bar is retained in the locked andin the unlocked position. A handle portion is formed on the bolt to extend at right angles from the circular portion of the bolt through an aperture" in a housing fitting over and: substantially enclosing the base plate; The bolt handle is'preferably'y but not necessarily of such size as'v to contact, at the ends thereof, with the circumference of the'ihousing'aperture. The housing aperture is preferably ofsuch size that the circumferential edge thereof overlies th peiriphery of the bolt circularvportion for a'substanf tial distance. The edge ofthe housing aperture is" inwardly flanged to provide an edge bearing only on the bolt. The" baseis so formed that pressure on the housing is directly transmitted tand distributed over the entire base so that the 'assembled structure 'maybe fastenedon the casebr box' by pressure directly on the housing.

`Heferring to the drawings, reference numeral l5l dsighates'the cover1 or top portion of a box or-c`ase`t which is' Xed'a keeper it shownvas aY casing int" which a latch bolt may `move and with which the latch lbolt nosemay engage.V The bodyor Ymajor portion 20 of the box or case has iiied' thereon i a' structure generally includingv a ba'ase plate 2| in which is mounted a latch bolt 2g aiidwhich'is substantially enclosed by a housin 23A.

y Thebase plate 2 if is substantiallyrectangular in forn withfportionsV 26 thereof formed outwardlyy or upwardly therefrom to define a circular recess or seat with the partial curved walls 21-. The raised base plate portions are also pro'- vided witlr at least two uncurvedrsulffaces v23 and 29"ascontinllationsofV the wallsfrgl and such por; tions have upper surfaces 30 which are substantially in a plane. The peripheral edges of at least the base portions 26 are flanged as indicated at 32 to bring the flange edges into the plane of the remainder of the base plate and portions of such flanges have prongs 33 formed thereon for fastening the base plate to a box or case. A lug 36 is formed from the base plate and outside the circular recess thereof while a plurality of lugs 31, 38 and 39 are formed from the base plate inside of and extending into the circular recessed seat.

The lugs 3l, 38 and 39 are adapted to position and support a tumbler or locking bar 42 which is substantially U shaped with the ends 43 and 44 extending laterally from the ends of the U and engageable respectively with lugs 31 and 39 While the bend of the U is engageable with the lug 38. The locking bar end 44 has a bend 45 therein engageable with either of two edges of the lug 39 dependent on whether or not the bar is in the locking position. The locking bar is made of resilient material and is of such size that placing the bar on the lugs as shown, puts the bar under tension suicient to prevent movement of the lbar except by use of a suitable key.

The latch bolt 22 comprises a substantially circular body portion 59 of such size as to t snugly into the recess in the base and a nose portion I with a hooked end 52 engageable with the keeper I6. The bolt body 50 has partial peripheral flanges 53, 54 and 55, the flange portions 54 and 55 defining a notch 56 while the unflanged portion of the bolt periphery is formed with two notches 5l. The notches 5l are alternately engageable by a curved and free end of a leaf spring 58 having the other end formed as a loop engageable with the lug 36. Such spring retains the bolt nose 5I in contact with either of the base surfaces 28 or 29 dependent on the position to which the bolt is rotated by the user. The bolt body is also formed with a projection 60 extending from the side thereof opposite the flanged side to form a handle with a hole 6| to receive a suitable key for moving the locking bar 42.

When the bolt is assembled in the seat in the base plate, the edges of the bolt body flanges rest on the bottom of the seat to bring a surface of the bolt body and nose substantially into the plane of the base surfaces 30 while the bolt handle 60 extends beyond such surfaces. The locking bar is made of such length as to nt easily inside the area defined by the bolt flanges 53, 54, 55 (and their continuations) and is of such width as to fit snugly but in easily slidable relation between the recess surface and the surface of the bolt adjacent each other. The bolt may then be so positioned that the locking bar 42 may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 with the end 43 thereof extending through the bolt notch 56 and with the bend 45 thereof engaging one side of the lug 39 as shown. The bolt is then locked against rotation and will be kept locked until the locking bar is moved to bring the bend 45 over the lug 39 for a suicient distance to move the locking bar out of the notch 56 and wholly inside of the bolt ilanges.

The latch housing member 23 has a circular opening therethrough to receive the bolt handle 69. Such opening may be of such size that the ends of the bolt handle contact with portions of the circumference of the opening but the bolt handle is of such length only that the housing aperture edge extends over the periphery of the 4 bolt body for a material distance. The housing opening is preferably peripherally flanged as at 65 to provide an edge bearing on the bolt body for more precise fitting of the parts, if desired.

It will thus be seen that the present latch and lock provides a structure in which the base, bolt and housing perform their usual functions and, in addition, co-act for accurately and positively retaining the parts in operative position merely by the assembly thereof. Even if the major parts are made as stampings, the parts will lit with a fair degree of precision. Rotational positioning is due to the co-action of the recess surfaces and the aperture through the housing with the bolt while the mere finishing of a small number of edge surfaces permits fitting the parts with any desired degree of precision in the direction at right angles to the plane of rotation. The base, bolt and housing are so proportioned that pressure may be put directly on the housing to fasten the entire structure to the .box or case with no danger of deforming or deranging the internal parts of the structure. The locking bar is so proportioned and assembled with its lugs that it can never move beyond predetermined positions and then only when positively actuated by a key.

We claim:

1. In a combined latch and lock, a base plate having a circular seat recess formed therein and having lugs extending into said recess, a latch bolt having members seated in said seat and spaced about said lugs, a locking bar mountedoon the base lugs and engageable with said members, said locking lbar being of a width to extend from said base to said bolt and being jointly guided thereby and by the lugs in its locking and unlocking movements, and a housing retaining the bolt in its seated position.

2. In a combined latch and lock, a base plate having a circular seat recess formed therein, a latch bolt having a circular portion with peripheral flanges tting in the seat and having notches in the periphery thereof, a leaf spring fixed at one end and having the other end engageable in the notches, a locking bar mounted in the seat recess and retained in position by the bolt for movement into engagement with the bolt flanges, the base plate and the bolt aiding in guiding movement of the locking bar, and a housing enclosing the base plate and the leaf spring and the bolt for retaining the leaf spring and the bolt in operative position on the base plate upon assembly of the housing therewith.

3. In a combined lock and latch, a base plate having a circular seat, a latch bolt seated in said seat, a locking bar mounted in the seat beneath said latch bolt, said locking bar being engageable with said bolt and retained in position thereby, and a housing retaining said bolt in its seated position.

ROBERT S. WAGNER. ALBERT J. DUWE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

